Single Again
by age4age4
Summary: After breaking off her engagement with Paul Triple H , Stephanie McMahon finds herself growing attached to her new AOL buddy. StephJericho
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE  


Stephanie sighed as the phone beside her began to ring again. It was the fourteenth phone call in the last two hours.

Everyone from her mother and father to some of her very close--and not so close--acquaintances had been trying to reach her and to say that she was becoming a bit stressed out at this point, would be an understatement.

She loved that everyone around her was willing to give her their shoulder to cry on, but at this moment in time, she really didn't want to talk about it and wished that people would just respect her decision.

_Unfortunately, that'll never happen.  
_  
Hearing a beep coming from the dresser beside her, Stephanie could tell the answering machine was kicking on again; causing her to inwardly groan, but nevertheless, she silently waited to see who was calling her **this** time.

_"Hi. You've reached Stephanie and Paul's habitation cell. As you can tell, we're not in right now, so either call us on our cells or don't bother getting in touch with us again, got it? Good!"_

Beep

"Stephanie?...Stephanie, I know you're there, pick up the phone...all right, fine then, don't pick up the phone. Just give me a call back at 555-0199, room 12, when you get a chance--and while you're at it..change your answering machine, Paul doesn't live there anymore sweetie, get over hi-"

Click

Stephanie half smirked as she fingered the cord to the answering machine which she had just pulled out. "Sorry Ames, but you made me do it."

As the peace and quietness of her two story home began to finally kick in again, Stephanie couldn't help but sigh with relief. She was sorry that she would probably be blocking out some very important phone calls from some of her more business-like employees, but if it left her with a little bit more of her sanity by the end of the night, then it really didn't matter.

While lying in her bed for another few minutes, Stephanie couldn't help but think about Paul and about how much she missed him.

Turning over to her side, she stared at the picture of him and her that was taken a few months ago after a taping of Monday Night Raw. She remembered that night in question so vividly because it was the night that he had proposed to her--little did they both know that less than two months later they would be saying good-bye to one another for unfortunately the very last time.

At that thought a tear made it's way down Stephanie's face, causing her to sniffle a little. She knew she couldn't keep doing this to herself, she had to get up out of bed and do something, anything really, as long as it got Paul out of her head for a while.

After sitting up a little, Stephanie made a quick round in her bedroom before her eyes locked on the computer that her parents had bought her for her 28th birthday last year. While inwardly shrugging to herself, she quickly crossed the room and made her way towards the laptop that laid across, what used to be, Paul's side of the dressing room table.

Taking a seat in the leather computer chair, she flipped on her computer, and waited for it to log up.

She couldn't believe she was doing this, but she was actually going to go onto the computer, and look up random people's AIM names so she could talk to them.

Sighing at the mere thought of how bored and how desperate she was at the moment, she logged onto the Internet, and waited for the connection to make.

As the AOL screen popped up, Stephanie leaned forward in her chair and began clicking on icons with her mouse until she found herself in a chat room.

At first she didn't bother to write in anything, but as miscellaneous people began writing little messages in the chat room, she couldn't help but type up a little message in the '_Single Again_' chat room.

_Brwnhairgrl: Anyone want to chat?_

A few people answered back with the same message: A/S/L, causing her to be confused.

_Brwnhairgrl: I'm sort of new to this whole computer technology thing..what's A/S/L?_

Just as soon as she hit 'Send', a PM message showed up on her screen, giving her an answer to her question.

_Blondboybrwn: It means: Age/Sex/Location._

"Oh." She said, before saying '_Thanks_' to the stranger, and closing his PM box.

_Brwnhairgrl: 29/Female/Connecticut_

Again, not even a second after she had hit the '_Send_' key the same guy wrote back to her.

_Blondboybrwn: Hey..Glad I'm not the only old person in here._

Stephanie bit her lip, not sure if she should talk to this guy or not, but figuring _what the hell_, she proceeded.

_Brwnhairgrl: Old? Who you callin old?_

This time it took him a little longer to IM her back.

_Blondboybrwn: You know what I mean! Half of these people in here are between the ages of 15 and 20. It's kind've nice to talk to someone over the legal drinking age._

Stephanie raised an eyebrow in interest before writing back.

_Brwnhairgrl: Well, not to sound nosey, but..how old are you..or better yet, what's your A/S/L?_

After a second his response showed up on the screen causing her to be shocked.

_Blondboybrwn: 34/Male/Connecticut_

Stephanie's hands froze as she read that last response, at the thought of this stranger being so close to Paul's age and living in the same state as she and he did, it made her wonder if this could be Paul she was talking to.

Thinking quickly, she began to type out a short message, trying to test out if he was Paul or not.

_Brwnhairgrl: So, out of curiosity...which part of Connecticut are you from?_

She found herself chewing on her bottom lip as she waited in anticipation for his reply to show up on her screen, luckily for her she didn't have to wait long.

_Blondboybrwn: I'm not really from Connecticut persay, I'm just here on a small trip._

Stephanie breathed out a sigh of relief, but still felt sort of down-fallen that it wasn't who she thought it was.

_Brwnhairgrl: So, what are you here for...business or pleasure?_

_Blondboybrwn: Uh...business kind've, which right now I have to tend to. So, I'll add you to my buddy list..k?_

After reading his response, Stephanie quickly began to type in her answer to his question but another message popped up before she could do so.

_Blondboybrwn: All right, bye.  
_  
She blinked as she read that Blondboybrwn had signed off, deleting the comment and question she had asked.

_Okay, but by the way...what's your name?

* * *

Next part soon_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

If Christopher Irvine a.k.a. Chris Jericho was ever asked to name one of the things he hated most about being a wrestler in the WWE, he would probably have to say that it was the adrenaline rush that one felt after they performed at a big pay-per-view event.

The rush was like nothing he had ever felt before. It left you on edge for hours and feeling like you had just finished drinking six bottles of highly caffeinated coke.

It was defiantly the reason that he sometimes hated being a professional wrestler--and one of the reasons that he now found himself wide awake at two o'clock in the freaking morning.

"Maybe another hot shower will do the trick."

Interestingly enough just as Chris made a move to take his room key out of his pants pocket and slip it into the key lock in front of him, the sound of a door opening behind him caused Chris to turn around and see who else was up at this time of night.

_Well, well, well...look who it is._

"I had a good time, as well...I'll see you in the morning." The younger female commented to the person she'd just been visiting with, before turning around and almost hitting the roof when she saw Chris standing down the hall from her, looking at her in amusement. "Jesus Christ, Chris! You scared the hell out of me...what are you doing out here so late?"

Knowing that Trish was trying to take the spotlight off of her and put it on him caused Chris to chuckle a little before showing the petite blonde the pack of Ritz crackers he had in one hand and the carton of Marbolo lights he had in the other. "Got a craving for some salt and nicotine so I went down to the third floor vending machine. And I'm guessing from the door that you just came out of, that you had a craving for a young and fresh post pubescent boy, so you went and visited Mr. Hardy."

If looks could kill, Chris knew he would've been a dying man--which caused him to laugh even harder.

"For your information, oh bleached blonde one, Jeff and I were just discussing our new story line for next week and how kissing one another onscreen could potentially effect our friendship off-screen. Nothing more, nothing less."

While raising an amused eyebrow at this information, Chris questioningly asked: "At two o'clock in the morning," a question which Trish didn't even have to answer 'cause the sudden redness of her cheeks gave it away. "It's okay, blondie, your secret is safe with me--and all the other Jericho-holics in the world."

Knowing that the man in front of her was just messing with her caused Trish to roll her eyes at the comment but then she couldn't help but smile a little when she remembered something from before, "You wouldn't dare say a word to anyone about this--unless you wanted the entire locker room to hear about that little incident you had with me a couple months ago after Stephanie and Paul's engagement party, now would you?"

As the images of that night in question popped into his head, Chris couldn't help but sober up very quickly. "Point taken...you don't tell and I wont tell."

"Thought you'd see things my way." Trish smirked, before letting out a dramatic yawn; signaling the end of their conversation for the night. "Well, it's been a long day, I think I'll go hit the hay...see you in the morning?"

Any sarcastic comment that he would've thrown at that response a couple of minutes ago was soon washed away by the remembrance of Trish's threat. "Yeah, see you in the morning..."

_Bitch._

* * *

After taking a long hot shower and finishing it off with a couple of puffs on his latest guilty habit, Chris figured that he would be almost dying to get into his bed right now. But unfortunately that wasn't the case.

"Insomnia, thy name is Christopher."

Looking around the hotel room he was in, Chris mentally made a list of things he could do to make himself tired in a couple of minutes and after a few seconds of weighing the pro's and con's of everything he had brought on the road with him, he decided that his laptop would do the trick and proceeded to get online.

"I used to have no problems sleeping in school. Maybe if I log onto a site about George Washington, I'll be out like a light."

Even though he figured everyone on his buddy list was either asleep right now or out at some local club trying to dance their adrenaline rush away, Chris couldn't help but take a look at his buddy list and after doing so, he couldn't help but smile a little.

"We meet again."

After taking a second to think of a witty first sentence, Chris began to type.

_Blondboybrwn: Looks like I'm not the only one suffering from a case of insomnia tonight. Whoever came up with this disease should be shot, maimed, and killed._

After a couple of seconds with no response, Chris made a move to type that he had just been kidding but before he could do so, a response showed up on his computer screen.

_Brwnhairgrl: Or atleast asked to pay for all the emotional stress that people have to endure in the morning thanks to their boss not getting any sleep the night before...I'm sure there have been plenty of times in the past when everyone I worked with would've loved to collect on that one._

While chuckling at the comment, Chris began to type his next question.

_Blondboybrwn: If you don't mind me asking...what do you do for a living?_

There was a small pause after Chris had hit the enter key causing him to wonder if the woman he was talking to had fallen asleep on him.

_Blondboybrwn: Sorry if that was too personal, you don't have to answer._

This time the response came much quicker.

_Brwnhairgrl: No, it's fine...I'm sure you're not a stalker or anything. Me, along with my brother, help my father run the family business._

Chris's hands froze at the comment. He knew it couldn't be possible that the person he was talking to could be the person that interrupted his thoughts almost every second of every day but the way that the woman had described her job caused him to think that maybe it could be her.

After thinking for a second, he typed out a short question, trying to see if it was her or not.

_Blondboybrwn: If you don't mind me asking again...what kind of business do you guys run?_

There was another small pause before the woman responded, this time a little faster than before.

_Brwnhairgrl: Dry cleaning...my brother and I help my father run our families dry cleaning company...and you?_

Even though he was kind of let down that it wasn't who he thought it was, Chris couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief while typing:

_Blondboybrwn: I play in a band. I'm the lead singer of this rock group. But you've probably never even heard of it--we mostly do cover songs._

There was a small pause before a response popped up on his screen.

_Brwnhairgrl: I'm not reallya big fan of cover bands but one of my best friends is...I'm sure if I gave her the name of the band, she'dprobably recognize it.._

After reading her response, Chris quickly began to type in his answer to her unasked question but another message popped up before he could finish.

_Brwnhairgrl: Hey, I have to run, I just remembered I have a meeting first thing in the morning so I'll talk to you some other time, okay?_

Before Chris could hit enter, a response saying that Brwnhairgrl had signed off flashed across his screen causing him to have to delete his last message:

_Blondboybrwn: I highly doubt it, we're pretty small...but our group is called Fozzy, if you're really interested._

* * *

Next part soon. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"All right, Jeff, I'll see your five and raise you another five."

"Well, I'll be damned, looks like we're starting to get a game going here...you in, old man?"

"Too rich for my blood..." Chris commented, while showing the two men in front of him that he was carrying nothing worth playing at the moment. "I'm out."

"Ooh, are you guys playing poker? I want in."

Without even bothering to turn around to see who had made that comment, Chris sarcastically replied: "Sorry Trish, only humans allowed. You'll have to wait until next round to play!"

"Ha, ha. Very funny, Blondie...but we'll see how much you'll be laughing when I tell everyone that you-"

Before Trish could finish her sentence, Chris angrily cut her off with: "Do it and you'll die," a comment which not only surprised the two men in front of him but Amy--who had just joined the table--as well.

"Whoa, rough night last night, Chris?"

"Except for a small bout of insomnia, my night was just fine, Amy." Chris sweetly replied, before turning his attention back towards Trish and coyly questioning how her night went; a question which interestingly enough caused both her and Jeff to blush.

"Touché!"

Without even bothering to ask what that was all about, Matt turned his attention towards the woman next to him who looked like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders right now. "I'm guessing from the look on your face that your conversation with Stephanie didn't go too well."

"No, that actually went fine. She told me that her and Vince want me to continue working with the Coach on Sunday night heat until I'm completely ready to get back in the ring. But I'm just starting to get a little bit worried about her. She's lost so much weight and I don't even think I've seen her touch a piece of food since her and Paul broke up a few weeks ago."

Even though he was doing a pretty good job of pretending like he wasn't listening to Matt and Amy's conversation at the moment, Chris could tell the woman beside him was watching him like a hawk; probably waiting for his reaction to the news.

"What are you staring at?"

"Nothing." Trish murmured quietly, so only Chris could hear her. "I was just thinking to myself that if I was Stephanie and my fiancée and I just broke up after being together for what felt like forever, I'd want only two things right now."

Knowing that Trish was probably going somewhere with this caused Chris to sigh slightly before quietly muttering back: "And that would be...?"

"Well, for starters, someone--who wasn't that close to me, but not a total stranger either--around for me to talk to about anything but Paul and our breakup...and secondly, and this is the most important one, that someone bringing me my favorite kind of comfort food."

_Comfort food?_

Having no idea what Stephanie liked to eat caused Chris to open his mouth to ask the blonde beside him how that **someone** was supposed to know what that was, but before he could do so, Trish outwardly replied: "You can never go wrong with burgers and fries."

With that thought in mind, Chris waited a second before nonchalantly standing up, getting the attention of the other three oblivious people at the table.

"You going back to the gym, already?"

After taking a second to push in his chair, Chris outwardly replied, "Not yet...I just suddenly got this weird craving for McDonalds. I'll see you guys later."

With that being said, Chris quickly made his way out of the cafeteria and, just as quickly, out of the Arco arena.

* * *

(Two hours later)

"I'm starting to become worried about you, Stephanie. Your father says that you've lost a lot of weight and he can't remember the last time he saw you touch a plate of food."

Having heard the same thing from Amy a couple of hours ago caused Stephanie to thank God that her mom couldn't see her rolling her eyes right now, before outwardly replying: "Don't worry, mom, I'm fine. I've just been under a lot of stress since we hired this new team of creative writers but once I see what they have planned for the next upcoming weeks, I'll be back to my normal self."

Knowing that would buy her some time, Stephanie wasn't surprised when she heard her mom reply: "All right dear, but remember, if you ever need to talk about Paul or anything else, your father and I are both here for you."

"I know, mom and I really appreciate it..." Stephanie began, before looking up as she heard a knock at the door. "Hey mom, there's someone here to see me. I'm going to have to call you later."

"Don't worry about calling back tonight. Just go home and get some sleep and I'll call you later on in the week…I love you, Stephanie."

"I love you too, mom. Send Shane and Marissa my love as well." Stephanie quickly replied back before ending the telephone call and telling whoever it was knocking on her door to please come inside.

"I hope I'm not intruding on anything."

After seeing that it was none other than Chris Jericho standing at the entrance to her office, Stephanie couldn't help but let a small smile grace her face as she jokingly replied: "No, just another heart to heart conversation with the wife of the owner of this company. But I'd much rather trade insults with you, my former on-screen enemy than have to go through another one of those any day."

Noting her sarcasm, Chris lightly chuckled before telling Stephanie to tell Linda he said hello and then afterwards continuing with: "I didn't want to interrupt you; I was just passing by your office and figured I'd bring you this."

After moving her gaze away from Chris's eyes to the McDonalds bag in his hand, Stephanie couldn't help but roll her eyes in annoyance. "Let me guess, Amy told you to bring me this…? For the last time, I told her and now I'm telling you: I'm fine!"

Seeing the irritation clearly shown on Stephanie's face, Chris quickly started to backtrack. "Actually, Amy didn't tell me to do anything. I was just listening to her and a couple of the other Divas talking about how they wanted to take you out to dinner 'cause you needed to eat more. And I was thinking to myself what better way to shut them up than to start bringing you junk-food every day causing you to not only gain fifty pounds by next month but also causing you turn your frustrations on them for having you look like a very fashionable cow. No harm, no foul."

_What the..?_

After staring at Chris for a few seconds as if he had lost his mind, Stephanie wasn't surprised when another small smile was soon back on her face, this time followed by a quiet laugh. "Well, when you put it that way, give it here."

After saying a small thank you to his mother for having him be born as a quick thinker, Chris handed over the bag of McDonalds to Stephanie and then after watching her pop a small fry into her mouth, he outwardly replied that he should get going. "I promised Jeff I'd meet him back down at the gym at four. But hey, make sure to be in your office by eight tomorrow morning. I'm thinking about bringing chocolate chip pancakes in for breakfast."

After jokingly replying that she wouldn't miss it for the world, Stephanie watched on as Chris reluctantly parted her office; leaving her to endure the first meal she had consumed in over three weeks.

_And it's all thanks to Chris Jericho…who would've thought?_

* * *

Next part soon 


	4. Chapter 4

SMORE'S

TWO WEEKS LATER (2am)

_If I…should stay, I would only be in your way—_

"Next."

_Tell me, how am I supposed to live without you, now that I've been loving you so long…_

"**Next!**"

_I kind of always knew I'd end up your ex-girlfriend—_

"Argh! Is everyone going through a break-up?" Stephanie shrieked to herself, before hitting the on/off button on her radio, and turning back to the computer in front of her; hoping that a burst of adrenaline would hit her so she could hurry up with what she was doing and go home for the night. "Who am I kidding? I'm never going to get this done by tonight."

She had been in her office for the last two hours going over the storylines for the next couples of months that the new creative writing team had sent her, and while there wasn't much to change, she still wanted to fine-tooth comb each and every single one of them so that when they went into production next week it would all look as believable as possible.

'_Cause having sex with a human corpse just isn't cutting it these days._

With that thought in mind, Stephanie tried to focus on the new Undertaker/Kane storyline she had been given, but soon found her attention being adverted towards the internet, wandering around a couple of clothing store sites, before finally heading towards her AIM buddy list; surprised to see a familiar screen name online.

_Well, well, well, we meet again._

With all thoughts of getting straight to work leaving her mind, Stephanie clicked on the name in front of her and wrote a short hello message:

_Brwneyedgrl: Well, you're up late…having another bout of insomnia?_

After a few seconds of not getting a response, Stephanie shrugged to herself thinking he must be off line. _Oh well, I need to be getting back to work anyway._

Interestingly enough, just as she was about to x the IM window out, a message popped up on screen telling her that the intended person was indeed online.

_Blondboybrown: LOL (laughing out loud, if you're not sure what that means), actually I was about to hit the sack earlier when I remembered I forgot to drop something off at my friend's job, so I'm now back home and wide awake now. Sucks big time…! But ne-way, what are you doing up so late? Can't sleep either?_

"I wish." Stephanie muttered to herself, before quickly typing back:

_Brwneyedgrl: Actually it's just the opposite, I'm stuck at the office, working on some documents…wish I could be sleeping, though….and fyi: I do know what LOL means….lol._

_Blondboybrown: LOL. That's good to know…but what kind of documents do you have to go over for your job? Which fabric softener not to use?_

_Huh?_

Confused by that statement caused Stephanie to move to write that she didn't understand what he meant by that, but then at the last second she stopped herself when she remembered that she had told her new computer friend that she, along with her brother, helped her dad run a dry cleaning business.

_Why I chose dry-cleaning, I will never know…I could've just said computer company and he wouldn't have known the difference. Not like I'm going to meet him anyway._

With that thought in mind, Stephanie wrote back:

_Brwneyedgrl: Something like that…I have to go over the receipts from this month and last month…you know, tax season is right around the corner._

"Good one, Steph…"

_Blondboybrown: Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that. I hate tax season. The only part of it I enjoy is when I get a refund, and then I could just kiss Uncle Sam and Mrs. Sam, for that matter._

Without even noticing it, Stephanie laughed for the first time since her and Paul had broken up. It felt good to laugh, she absentmindedly noted to herself. It had been a long time since she had done it.

_Brwneyedgrl: LOL. Very true, but you know what, it's getting kind of late so I think I'm just going to go home and finish up these receipts there. But It was nice talking to you again. We'll have to do it again sometime._

_Blondboybrown: Very true, but wait, before you go...I been meaning to ask you this since we first started IM'ing one another…what's your name?_

"My name..?" Stephanie asked herself, "He wants to know my name…"

Even though she knew there were a million Stephanie's around the world, for some strange reason she didn't want to give the stranger her real name, so she instead chose to give him her middle name.

_Brwneyedgrl: It's Marie and yours?_

While waiting for the male to respond back to her question, Stephanie made fast work of getting her things together so once they ended their chat she could leave her office.

_Blondeboybrwn: It's Keith. Nice to meet you Marie._

_Brwneyedgrl: You too, Keith. I'll talk to you later._

Without waiting for Keith to respond back to that statement, Stephanie signed off her computer and then made her way out of the room, turning off the light and shutting her office door behind her.

"What the…?"

Noticing a note tapped to her door, accompanied by a newspaper wrapped parcel, Stephanie looked down both ends of the hallway—knowing that she probably wouldn't see anyone since she was quite certain that she was the only one left in the office—before taking the note and item off her door, afterwards reading the post-it in front of her.

_Thought this could win our battle…Jericho_

Wondering exactly what that meant, Stephanie quickly tore into the paper that was hiding the item in her hands, and then couldn't help but laugh once again—for the second time today.

"A giant Hershey bar…? Well, that's one way to put on the pounds…going to have to find a way to thank Chris for this in the future…maybe I'll give him another run at the Intercontinental belt. Hmm…we'll see."

With that thought in mind, Stephanie placed the candy bar in her purse and then made her way down the hallway, now the thought of doing work when she got home replaced with the thought of making Smores leading her out of the building.

* * *

Next part soon (Sorry it's so short. I promise you the next part will be longer!!)


	5. Chapter 5

A WHOLE NEW WORLD

"Hey Steph, wait up for a second!"

After turning around to see who had called her name, Stephanie reluctantly waited until the other woman had caught up with her, before starting back in the direction she had previously been headed in, saying: "Sorry to walk and talk, Ames, but I have to get these papers to the post office before it closes today..what's up?"

While having to slightly run to keep up with Stephanie's long-legged strides, an amused Amy quickly replied that it wasn't anything too serious. "I just wanted to know if you had any plans tonight 'cause me and a couple other people are going out tonight, and we wanted to know if you wanted to come along with?"

_Who is **we? **_Stephanie opened her mouth to ask. But before she could get the words past her lips, an all knowing Amy replied: "Before you ask, so far it's just me, Chris, Matt, Jeff and Trish going-so there will be no awkward moments. What do you say?"

Although she had been looking foreword to doing nothing more than just heading back to her hotel room and finishing off the plate of S'mores she had made the night before, Stephanie couldn't help but ask where they were going. "'Cause I'm really not in the mood to go clubbing tonight."

"Good, cause neither am I," Amy cheerfully replied, as they grew closer to Stephanie's rental car causing the older woman to finally begin slowing her movements down somewhat, "I'm actually not sure where we're going tonight-this was Chris's idea so he gets to choose the place, but can I tell him you're coming, anyway?"

_Do I have a choice? _Stephanie inwardly asked herself; knowing from first hand experience that her friend probably wouldn't give up until Stephanie had agreed to attend tonight's festivities.

With this thought in mind, she quickly replied "What the hell," before getting in her car and telling Amy to call her when she was on her way to come get her.

"Will do...see you later, Stephanie!"

_Yeah, yeah...don't make me regret this, Amy._

* * *

_So **this** is their idea of a good time? _Stephanie commented to herself, while looking around at the group of people who were with her; all of them seeming to be enthralled in the two huge notebooks that were laid out in front of them.

"Ooh, Ames, let's do this one."

"We sang "Purple Rain" last time. What about this one?"

"I hate country, pick something else..."

"Wait, let's let the new girl decide...which one do you want to do, Steph?"

_Anything that gets me out of here quicker..._Stephanie commented to herself; having already decided within the first ten minutes of being in the Karaoke bar that it had been a bad idea to accompany her friends there. Unfortunately, she knew that answer wasn't the one they wanted to hear, so she instead replied: "I don't care..I think I'm just going to watch you guys tonight."

"Oh no!" Chris began, causing Stephanie to throw a questioning gaze towards him, "No one walks away from here without at _least _singing one song tonight..so, what's it going to be, Princess? Choose your fate!"

Without even bothering to hold back her slight smirk at this comment, Stephanie decided just to give in already-if only so Chris would move onto someone else for the night. "All right, fine, but you pick for me since this singing thing is right up your alley, okay?"

"No problem-o," Chris jokingly replied back, with a hint of a smile on his face. Afterwords, he quickly scanned the song book for a song for Stephanie to sing. And after finding one he liked, he quickly wrote it down and then handed it to the DJ to play.

_I can only imagine what song he chose._

Interestingly enough, it wasn't that long before Stephanie found out what song Chris had chosen for her as the MC for the night announced that the next song would be a duet sung by "WWE's own Chris Jericho and Stephanie McMahon."

_A duet? _

"I figured it would be easier to pop your cherry this way instead of having you go up there and perform a number solo...you ready?"

While ignoring the _pop your cherry_ comment, Stephanie asked the others at the table to wish her good luck before following Chris towards the stage up front; accepting the microphone that he handed her afterwords.

"Just follow my lead, Princess and nothing will go wrong," Chris commented, before telling the the DJ they were ready to go.

After nodding his head in response, the other man began to play a familiar Disney song; immediately causing Stephanie to wonder if the man beside her was serious or not.

He was.

_"I can show you the world. Shining, shimmering, splendid. Tell me, **Princess**, now when did you last let your heart decide...? I can open your eyes, take you wonder by wonder. Over, sideways and under on a magic carpet ride..."_

While watching as Chris began to command the audience in front of him to sing along to the chorus of "a whole new world" with him, Stephanie couldn't help but find herself beginning to smile and then laugh a little-especially when it was her turn to sing, and Jericho began to pretend to mockingly conduct her.

_"A whole new world, a dazzling place I never knew. But when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear, but now I'm in a whole new world with you._"

_"Now, I'm in a whole new woooorld."_

As Chris and Stephanie began to take turns singing the next couple of verses of the song, the latter completely forgot that she was supposed to be having an embarrassing time right now and soon found herself getting into the dramatic movements that the song called for; an action which pleased her male-counterpart greatly.

_I knew she'd have a great time if she just allowed herself to loosen up a little...now part two of getting her to do so can begin._

* * *

Later that night

"A whole new world..."

"Don't you **dare **close your eyes!"

"A hundred thousand-"

"Hold your breath it gets better!"

While watching on as Matt and Jeff continued to act out his and Stephanie's performance from earlier in the evening, Chris couldn't help but slightly roll his eyes while playfully asking if the two idiots were almost done so he could finally get some shut-eye for the night.

"You mean so you can finally talk to your girlfriend for the night?" Jeff casually joked; causing Chris to slightly glare at the younger man while Matt asked Jericho what _girlfriend_?

_That's the last time I cover for him and Trish when they sneak off together. _Chris commented to himself, before rolling his eyes at Jeff's slip-up and then outwardly telling Matt that she wasn't his girlfriend. "She's just this girl I talk to sometimes online when I can't sleep-I don't even know why I told Jeff about her, I forgot he can't keep his big mouth shut for too long."

_Unless he's playing tonsil hockey with a certain bleached blond.. _Chris finished to himself, just as Matt began with the questions Chris knew he was going to ask him.

"So, you have an online relationship?"

"No, she's just a girl that I met online. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Well, how do you know she's a girl, have you met her or seen a picture of her yet, at least?"

"No, we haven't gotten that far yet..I just met her a couple weeks ago while surfing the net."

"So, how do you know she's even who she says she is..she could be a 45 year old pervert-or worse, a 14 year old guy playing tricks on you."

Having not thought about that before caused Chris to think about it for a second, and then after remembering bits and pieces of conversations that they had in the last couple of weeks, he calmly stated that he believed her when she said that she was a 29-year-old dry cleaning girl from Connecticut.

"Connecticut..?"

As Matt began to think for a second, Chris and then Jeff wondered what he was thinking about.

"Hear me out, okay..? I have a friend who works for the police department in Connecticut and he might be able to pull a couple of strings for you and find out if this 29-year-old dry cleaning lady is exactly who she says she is. What do you think?"

Not liking the sound of this idea caused Chris to say, "Don't you think you're going a little over-board with this one...? I mean, what if she **is** who she says she is, wouldn't your friend poking his head around her cause her some problems at work?"

"Maybe..." Matt began, while hitting Chris with a pointed stare, "But then again, what if she **isn't **who she says she is...? Then that might cause **you** some problems at work...but it's your decision, not mine, to make."

_True..._Chris thought to himself. And although he really didn't like the idea of some cop sneaking around this girls place to figure out if she was who she had said she was or not, he couldn't but tell Matt to go ahead and make the phone call.

"I'm already on it."

* * *

Next part soon


	6. Chapter 6

**Guess who**

Three days later

"_I love rock-n-roll, so put another dime in the Juke box baby. I love rock-n-roll, so come and take your time and dance with me_..."

_Finally that's over..._

"_A few stolen moments is all that we shar_e-"

As the woman beside her began to sing another 80's pop song, Stephanie couldn't help but throw her pencil down while asking her friend if there was anything else she could be doing right now.

"Well, Matt and Jeff are at the gym. Trish is out to lunch with her sister who is visiting for the week and Chris is nowhere to be found-so that just leaves me with you-so **nope**, I don't have anything else better I could be doing right now," Amy jokingly concluded before getting back to the song she was singing; causing Stephanie to shake her head in exasperation, before turning her attention to her computer screen which was at the moment telling her that she had just received mail right now.

_I wonder who that could be.._ Stephanie thought to herself, even though she had a feeling she already knew who it was.

Her and her online friend "Keith" had been emailing one another back and fourth ever since Friday night after she had gone out to the bar with Amy and the rest of their friends. And to say the conversation had been entertaining, to say the least, would be an understatement. It was becoming a highlight of her day to get an email from the face-less man who always had some story to tell her about life on the road as the lead singer to a punk rock band.

_It beats any story I could make up for him about my life as part owner of a dry cleaning business, that's for sure..._

With that being her last thought, Stephanie clicked on her email and-just like she thought-there was an email waiting for her from Keith.

_What I wouldn't give to trade a day in the life with you...as we speak, I am currently seated in a hotel room trying to wash hair dye-that one of my friends snuck into my shampoo bottle-out of my hair...do you know of a good place to bury a body?_

Without even bothering to hold back her small chuckle at this last statement, Stephanie took a second to think of a witty response before typing:

_Believe me, if I knew of a good place to bury a body, I would have already done so a long time ago...some of the people my dad hired to help us run this place make me want to pull THEIR hair out sometimes..not just dye it._

"Wait! Is that supposed to be about me?"

Realizing that Amy had just read over her shoulder what she typed caused Stephanie to quickly shut her laptop and glare at her snooping friend, "_No_, but if you don't get out of this office and go find someone else to bother right now, then it **will **be about you."

Knowing the other woman well enough to know when she was just all talk caused Amy to reply back: "Not until you tell me who this _Blondboybrown _is you're talking to...do I know him? Is he single?"

After rolling her eye's at her friend's probing questions, Stephanie let out a small sigh before saying "_No_, you don't know him and _yes_, he is single."

_At least I think he is..._

"Well then, how do you know him...? Don't tell me he's someone you just met online."

Not receiving any response back to this question caused Amy to widen her eyes in shock, and then afterwords, begin to ask Stephanie one million and one questions that the older woman already knew her friend was going to have for her.

_This is **exactly **why I didn't tell her about him in the first place._

"What's his name..? Where does he live..? How old is he?"

"His name is Keith. He lives in Connecticut and he's 34 year old."

_Anymore questions...?_

Knowing that Amy wasn't done yet caused Stephanie not to be surprised when the younger woman started in on her again.

"When'd you meet him...? Who else knows that you're talking to him...? Are you sure that he is who he says he is?"

While closing her eyes-willing herself to remain patient through her friend's questions-Stephanie replied: "I met him a couple of weeks ago while I was in some chat-room for people who had recently became single. No one other than you now knows about him. And...I don't know if he is who he says he is, but I don't think he's lying about who he says he is, either..I just have a feeling."

"A _feeling_...?"

Stephanie knew it sounded stupid as soon as she heard the words coming out of her mouth, but it was true. She didn't know why but she just had a feeling that she could trust Keith. There was something about him that seemed so familiar to her; something that made her feel like she had known him for longer than just a couple of weeks now.

But she didn't know how to explain that one to Amy, who was still looking at her with a disapproving glare on her face.

"Well, I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into, Stephanie."

_You're not the only one, Ames..._

* * *

After spending another fifteen minutes trying to get as much information as possible out of Stephanie about "Keith," Amy told her friend that she would finally let her get back to work since Jeff and Matt should be done with their work-out by now.

"Okay...and Ames, can we just keep what we talked about between you and me for right now. I don't want the fact that I'm talking to someone online getting out to everyone-especially not to my dad. You know how people around here can talk."

"I promise I wont say anything to anyone..your secret is safe with me." Amy replied back, as an afterthought, before telling Stephanie that she'd see her later and then closing the door behind her. Afterwords uncrossing her fingers that had been crossed behind her back.

"Now to go find Trish and tell her everything I know."

* * *

"So, did you get a chance to call Mike back yet?"

While holding the gym door open for Jeff, Matt absentmindedly nodded his head while replying: "Yeah, I wanted to talk to Chris first, but...it turns out, I was right. There** is** no "Marie" or any dry cleaning business...he said he didn't have all the facts yet, but he's supposed to be calling me back later tonight with all the details."

"All what details?"

Having been so wrapped in the conversation that they were having, neither Matt or Jeff had realized Amy was headed towards them until she was right in front of them.

_Shit!_

Trying to think up a quick lie, Matt replied: "All the details to my match tonight against Adam...I haven't gotten a chance to look over my storyline book yet."

After a second of Amy staring both him and his brother down-trying to figure out if he was lying or not, Matt presumed-she made a slight 'oh' noise before changing the subject; fortunately.

"Well, I'm glad I ran into you. I was just wondering, do you still keep in contact with your friend Mike from back home..? You know the one you said moved to Connecticut to become a police officer?"

After exchanging a _how does she know that_ glance with Jeff, Matt replied: "Sometimes..why? What's up?"

Now it was Amy's turn to think up a lie...well, sort of anyways.

"I can't really tell you all the details, but a friend of mine just started seeing this guy, and I'm not sure that he's who he says he is, so I was wondering if Mike could possible pull his record up for me since the guy says he's from Connecticut."

_Well, I guess after this week I'll **owe** Mike one now, _Matt thought to himself, before pulling out his cell-phone; ready to call in the favor for Amy. "What's the guys name?"

"I don't know his last name, but his first name is Keith and his AOL screen name is _Blondboybrown_."

_No way...it can't be..._

"Blondboybrown?" Jeff questioned; with a hint in his voice that told Matt he too was putting all the pieces of the puzzle together right now. "Who did you say your friend was again?"

"I didn't say who she was. I didn't think it mattered...does it?"

After sharing a look with Jeff that said _should we tell her_, Matt began to put his phone back in his bag-an action which confused Amy-and then afterwords replied: "No, it doesn't..but we were just asking because we know who_ Blondboybrown_ is..now we're just wondering who **Marie** is."

As if she just had been slapped in the face, Amy quickly raised her eyebrows in shock-while staring at the two men in front of her as if she had just seen a ghost. "How...? Who is he?"

After shaking his head at the question, Matt replied: "You tell us who Marie is and we'll tell you who Keith is." And although she had just sworn she wouldn't tell anyone what she knew, Amy couldn't help but-after a second's pause-reply: "Stephanie."

A comment which caused Matt and Jeff to burst out laughing in response.

"Hey, I don't see what's so funny about that...why are you guys laughing?"

_You'll laugh too when we tell you who it is... _Matt thought to himself before quickly sobering up enough to reply:

"Keith is Chris...Blondboybrown is Jericho's screen-name."

* * *

Next part soon. What do you think?


	7. Chapter 7

PLAN OF ACTION

Later that night

"So, what's the verdict?"

After looking up to see who had asked that question, an amused Matt waited until he had set the Tuna fish sandwich that he'd been eating, down on a plate, before replying: "Ding-ding-ding...we have a winner, folks."

"Mike just called and said that it is **definitely **Stephanie McMahon that Chris has been talking to these last few weeks. And I don't know about you two, but I can't **wait** to tell them."

While ignoring Matt and Jeff's small chuckles, Amy who had asked the previous question took a seat beside Matt at the hotel table; forcing Trish to take a seat next to Jeff across from her.

"I don't see what's so funny about the fact that they are talking to one another without knowing it."

"Me either," Trish commented, while rolling her eyes at the man beside her who was still wearing a look of amusement on his face-even though it was **not **that particularly funny to her. "I think it's kind of sweet. Romantic even."  
_  
Romantic?_

Sobering up at this comment, Matt asked Trish how she thought Stephanie and Jericho talking to one another was _romantic._ "Up until recently they couldn't even stand one another-let alone, be in the same room with one another without trading insults...they hated each other."

As if he now had said something funny, Trish began to laugh-and then after realizing she was the only one who was doing so-she outwardly commented: "Didn't you guys ever have crushes on anyone back in elementary school...? You don't remember pulling the hair of the girl you liked or calling her names, even though you secretly thought she was kind of hot to begin with?"

While sharing a _hell no_ look with Matt, Jeff replied: "That's stupid. Whenever I used to liked someone, even til this day, I was upfront with them about it. I just told them how I felt."

"And I'm sure if Chris felt anything for Stephanie, he'd tell her the same," Matt agreed; causing Trish to reply _whatever_ to, and then afterwords-before she could even stop herself-continuing with: "Well, that's not what he told me."

A comment which caused not only Matt and Jeff to look at the blond in confusion, but also Amy as well-who knew when the other woman was keeping something from her.

_And judging by the blush that is taking over her face right now, she is indeed doing so right now.._

With that being her last thought, Amy outwardly replied: "Spill it;" causing Trish to stare at Amy for a second, and after noticing the seriousness expression on her face, she quickly began telling Amy what she knew.

"Okay, don't tell him I told you this, but...a couple of months ago, after Paul and Stephanie got engaged, Chris got drunk and kissed me-"

"He **kissed **you?"

Having forgot who was sitting beside her at the moment caused a now further blushing Trish to quickly reply: "Yes, but that's not the point...anyway, he kissed me and after I pulled away, he told me he was sorry and that he didn't mean it. He was just upset-and after probing him for details-he said it was because of Stephanie and Paul getting engaged. He said he had somehow fallen in love with the _Princess_, as he called her and now he knew he would never have a chance to be with her. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him after that-but again, don't tell him I told you guys that."

_Are you serious?_

In all the years that he knew Chris, Matt hadn't thought for one second that his friend had such strong-if any-feelings for their other friend. And this sentiment must have been shared with the group because Jeff's next words were:

"Are you sure he didn't just say that 'cause he was drunk..? 'Cause I've heard of people saying _and_ doing things while drunk that they normally wouldn't do on any other occasion-like kissing their friends girlfriends, for instance-or so I've heard."

Now it was Jeff's turn to blush red-a fact which both Amy and Matt noticed; but decided against commenting on for the time being, anyways.

_That's another conversation for another day..._

"Wait, so have you two talked about it since that night when he was drunk?"

Without even thinking about it for a second, Trish nodded before saying that they indeed had. "I told him he should say something to her-especially now since Stephanie and Paul are no longer together. But we all know how stubborn Chris can be at times-so I don't see that happening anytime soon."

_This is true...unless..._

"What if there was someway we got _Keith _to tell _Marie_ about it?"

With all eyes on him now, Matt began to tell the group his idea, that with everyone's help, would not only land Chris the girl of his dreams but Stephanie the guy of her dreams as well.

Next part soon


	8. Chapter 8

STEP A

The next day

"Now, is there anything else that we need to go over before we put the final touches on the story-lines for next months _Raw_ and _SmackDown _shows?"

After looking at the notes she had jotted down in front of her, Stephanie let a small smile spread across her face as she replied: "No, I think that about covers it. Thanks again for calling me back in such short notice, Cindy. I know just coming into this business, it might seem like a lot of hard work and it is definitely stressful at times with all the deadlines that we have, but you and the rest of the crew are doing a really great job with the story-lines-Mr. McMahon and I are very impressed with what you and the rest of your team have come up with thus far."

"Thank you, Miss McMahon, that really means a lot to us coming from you," The younger woman replied back.

"Don't mention it," Stephanie replied, before half-jokingly continuing with, "But please call me Stephanie. The only person who still goes by Mr or Mrs. McMahon around here is my dad. You can just call me Stephanie and my brother Shane, for that matter."

After hearing the woman on the other line agree to her request, Stephanie told the new head writer of the creative team that she'd be stopping by later on in the week to look over the final draft of the Raw/SmacDown story-lines, and then after hanging up the phone she turned back to her computer screen; shifting her focus from story-lines to the merchandise reports.

_A day in the life of a McMahon is never done._

"You have a minute?"

Looking up at the voice, Stephanie was surprised to see Chris Jericho peeking his head into her doorway...well, not really surprised to see him, per say, since he had been a constant visitor in Stephanie's office these last couple of weeks; always dropping off fattening foods for her to _plump_ up with for the Divas sake. But Stephanie was surprised to see a newly _clean_ shaven Chris Jericho in her doorway.

"What happened to your hair?"

"You wouldn't believe it even if I told you."

Gone was Chris' long blond locs-that Stephanie hated to admit she had become envious of a time or two, especially during those days when she had to fight with her naturally curly hair to get it to straighten in the morning-in its place was a short and shaggy hair cut.

"So, what do you think?"

After using her finger to tell Chris to turn around so she could get a good look at his new look, Stephanie couldn't help but tell Jericho the truth. "It looks good...I mean, it _definitely_ makes you look a lot older than you used to look, but in a good way...it's a good look on you."

As if he had been afraid that Stephanie would tell him that she hated it and that he needed to just shave it off completely or else wear a baseball cap until his hair grew back, Chris let out a huge sigh of relief before replying: "I wanted you to see it first before the rest of the guys did. That way I could get a small glimpse of some of the crap I'm going to be hearing from you out in the ring and backstage for the next couple of weeks."

Knowing that Chris was referring to their on-screen hate/hate banter, Stephanie couldn't help but chuckle slightly before repeating again that she thought that Chris' hair cut looked really good on him. "I like it a lot."

_It really brings out his eyes._ Stephanie commented to herself, but before she could say that statement out-loud, a knock on her door was heard causing both Chris and Stephanie to advert their eyes to behind Chris where Amy was now standing.

"Sorry. I didn't know you had company."

_When has that ever stopped you before? _Stephanie opened her mouth to ask, but like before, she was interrupted, this time by Jericho.

"It's cool. I need to get going anyways. I told Matt I'd spot him at the gym while Jeff finishes my laundry..."

_Your laundry?_

At seeing both Amy and Stephanie's looks of confusion, Chris quickly replied "don't ask," before telling both women that he'd see them later on and then excusing himself from the room.

"What was that all about?"

Figuring that Amy hadn't come to her office for anything that required her undivided attention caused Stephanie to move her gaze back towards the computer in front of her while replying that Chris had just stopped by to show off his new do'.

Taking this as a cue to find out how Stephanie truly felt about the other man, Amy waited until she had taken a seat on the chair that was seated in front of her friend's desk before nonchalantly asking the older woman: "So, what did you think?"

"I think it looks good on him. If anything, now we'll be able to play around a little bit more with his character-maybe give him a more professional gimmick. What do you think?"

_I think you didn't help me out one bit just now,_ Amy thought to herself, before absentmindedly telling Stephanie that she liked Chris' new haircut, as well, and then afterwords switching the subject-slightly. "So, I've been thinking..."

Realizing that Amy wasn't going to continue until she had Stephanie's undivided attention caused the older woman to turn her attention away from her computer screen and raise an eyebrow in interest at the younger woman's statement. "I'm listening.."

"Okay, hear me out..I was thinking back to our last conversation about that guy Keith you met online and I was thinking maybe I over-reacted somewhat to the whole thing."

To say that Stephanie was surprised with this line of conversation would be an understatement.

_I'm still shocked the whole locker room hasn't heard the news yet..who knew Amy could keep such a secret this long?_

With that being her last thought, Stephanie replied: "I'm glad you see things my way..is that all?"

_Okay, now onto the plan.._Amy thought to herself, before quickly continuing with: "I get the whole wanting to talk to someone who doesn't know about you and Paul's relationship, believe me, I do. But I still can't help but worry that this person isn't really who you think he is."

_Here we go again..._

Having spent the majority of an hour on Monday explaining to Amy that she didn't know why but she just had a feeling that Keith was who he said he was caused Stephanie to open her mouth to say just that, but instead she found herself being interrupted for the third time that day.

_What is it with people today?_

"I know, I know..! You say that you believe him when he says he is who he says he is..I get that. But being your best friend and not knowing a thing about this guy that you spend quite a bit of your day conversing with online, I can't help but feel a little worried, that's all I'm saying."

Knowing that Amy just had her best interest at heart caused Stephanie's annoyance to subdue a little, replaced by a genuine smile. "I'm glad that you consider me to be one of your best friends, Amy and I think it's very sweet of you to be worried about me. I just wish there was someway I could get you to see that there is nothing to worry about as far as me and Keith are concerned. As of right now, he's nothing more than just a name behind a computer screen."

_Got her right where I wanted her.._

After pretending to agree with Stephanie's words, Amy forced a mock smile on her face while replying: "Hey, I just thought of something. We're going to be back in Connecticut in a few weeks, aren't we?"

Not seeing where this was going caused Stephanie to take a brief look at the planner in front of her; confirming that they indeed were, before afterwords asking: "What about it?"

"Well.." Amy continued, this time having to hold back her slight roll of the eyes at Stephanie not putting two and two together yet, "**we'll** be in Connecticut and your** friend** does business in Connecticut, so how about you ask him if he wants to meet up with us while we're there. That way you two will get a chance to meet one another face-to-face and I'll be able to put all my fears aside about him while we're there. What do you say?"

_I say you must have messed up your neck **and** your head a few months ago for you to come up with that idea. _Stephanie commented to herself; not believing for one second that Amy, who had strongly protested the idea of Stephanie even talking to Keith just a few days ago could at this point be encouraging Stephanie to meet up with that said man-even going as far as saying she would come along, as well.

_I feel like I just stepped into an episode of the twilight zone..._

"So, what do you say?"

"I-" Knowing if she said _no,_ she would be out-right telling Amy that she wasn't really sure that Keith was who he said he was-confirming Amy's suspicions-caused Stephanie to pause in her thoughts for a second, before continuing with: "I think that's a greats idea..I'll see if he will be in town that weekend and let him know of our plans."

"Great..well, I'll let you get back to work. We'll talk some more about this later, okay?"

After watching as an almost skipping Amy stood up and made her way outside the door, Stephanie waited until the red head had shut the door behind her before turning back to her computer screen; wondering to herself what the hell did she just get herself into.

***  
Next part soon


	9. Chapter 9

STEP B

"Looks like you're up next."

Adverting her attention away from the window she had been staring out of, Trish turned her attention to the person who was running beside her and then after following his gaze, she noticed Amy making her way towards the two of them; giving her the signal that the first stage of their plan was complete, now onto the next stage.

"Wish me luck," Trish half-jokingly replied before climbing off the treadmill she had been power-walking on; trading a knowing look with Amy before making her way towards the other end of the weight room where Chris was seated; looking to be starting his third set of leg presses for the day. "Hey, you almost done here? I need your help on the weight-benches."

After saying that he had only one more set left to do, Chris quickly pushed out the last 30 presses he needed to do, and then after grabbing his stuff from the floor, he followed Trish towards one of the empty corners of the room where a couple of weight benches were set up in.

"Your usual weight?"

Knowing that she was on a mission right now and needed to be able to talk while lifting the weights above her head caused Trish to select a few pounds lighter than her usual weight of 150 pounds.

"122 should be enough for right now."

After making fast work of helping Trish put the weights on the bar for her, Chris waited until she got in the right position before picking up the bar and setting it on top of her hands.

_Now, the interrogation can begin._

"So, what is this I hear about you having a little fling with some girl up in Connecticut?"

If Trish hadn't been concentrating on the bar that was slowly coming towards her face right now, she probably would've dropped it laughing as Chris' facial expression morphed from a look of half shock to a look of half disbelief at that comment. "Can no one keep a secret around here anymore...? Who told you I was having a fling with some girl up in Connecticut?"

Before Trish could even make a move to respond to that statement, Chris quickly replied, "Never-mind, I know who told you that...and just so you **and **Mr. Hardy know, it's not a fling. I just met a girl online-as I'm sure you already know-and we hit it off as friends. It's as simple as that. Nothing more, nothing less."

_But if you only knew who this so called friend of yours was, I'm sure you'd be singing quite a different tune right about now..._ Trish commented to herself, while continuing to concentrate on the task at hand, "Fair enough. So, when do** I** get to meet this _friend _of yours? You have met her, already, right?"

Even though they both knew he hadn't, Trish still managed to pretend to be surprised when Chris replied that he hadn't. "I just met her online a couple of weeks ago. It's not like she lives down the street from us, Trish."

"_True_, but it's not like we aren't in Connecticut almost every other week. **Hell**, we'll be there in a couple of weeks...why don't you go and meet her then? If you want, I can make up some excuse to keep the boys away from you long enough so you two can meet up and hang out for a couple of hours without either of you having to worry about one of the Hardy Boyz spying on you from across the street."

_Cause we both know that is **exactly** what they would be doing..._Chris commented to himself, before waiting until Trish was almost finished with her second set of bench presses before continuing with: "I'll email her tonight to see if she's interested...but only if you promise to keep up your end of the deal. I don't want the guys to scare her off just yet; especially since we are nothing more than friends, like I said."

"Understandable..."  
_  
You two are nothing more than just friends-until you find out who each other is, that is._

Next part soon. I promise the next part will be longer. lol


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

2 weeks later (Hartford, Connecticut)

"I was _crying_ when I met you-"

"Jeff..."

"Now I'm _trying _to forget you."

"_Jeff.."_

"Your love is sweet misery-"

**"Jeff**!**"**

As if just realizing that he wasn't the only person in his hotel room right now, Jeff practically jumped out of his skin while turning around to face a half amused/half annoyed Chris Jericho.

"What?"

"What do you mean _what_? You called me over here a half-n-hour ago saying you had something really important to tell me, but have done nothing but sing-rather badly, I might add-old Aerosmith songs since I got here...spit it out already!"

Without even bothering to hold back his small chuckles, Jeff finally gave in and let the impatiently waiting man know the real reason he had asked for him to meet him in his room that evening. "All right...I have sort of a confession to make...I haven't been _totally _honest with you guys these last couple of months...for the last several weeks, I've been kind of seeing someone...a diva."

_Trish, you mean.._ Chris thought to himself, having known for quite some time now that his friends were both secretly seeing one another behind everyone's back. _The worst kept secret I've ever seen._

With that thought in mind, Chris confusingly asked: "Don't get me wrong, if you're happy, then I'm happy for you..but _why _exactly are you telling me this right now?"

Knowing that **this **was where his part of the gangs plan was supposed to kick in, caused Jeff to take a seat on his bed-trying to make it seem like he was trying to gather his thoughts together-and then nonchalantly replied: "I was thinking about how me and Matt were riding you the other day about how you and this girl Marie met one another, and it got me to thinking about me and my relationship...with Trish."

As if waiting for Chris to make a comment about his announcement, but to no avail, Jeff continued with: "I'm not as oblivious as some people think I am. I hear the rumors about her...I know some people think she worked her way up in this business by sleeping with everyone she came into contact with and that she really has no business being here. But I _also_ know her, and I also know that she isn't like that...she's smart, she's funny, she's beautiful and most importantly she's honest to a t."

_Well, it's about __**damn**__ time he admitted how he truly felt about her..._Chris thought to himself, before again asking Jeff what all this had to do with him and his date for the evening, Marie.

"I just wanted to tell you **that** because sometimes, even though we-as your friends-**think** we know what's best for you and really **do** have good intentions at heart, sometimes we forget that not everyone's out there to get us...so, with that being said, even though I still don't _approve_ of how you two met, I support you and if you want to continue talking to this girl Marie and maybe even meet her one day, I support that decision as well."

_Wow..._

Having not seen that one coming from a mile away caused Chris to let a small smile slide across his face as he told his friend: "Thanks man, I really appreciate that."

"Anytime.." Jeff replied back, before giving his friend a brotherly hug and inwardly thinking to himself:

_I just hope my support is enough to get you to tell Stephanie how you really feel about her._

* * *

2 hours later (Carmine's Italian Grill)

_Hey! Sorry I'm running a little late...was harder than I expected to get rid of Matt and Jeff. Be there shortly._

_Well, then that makes two of you cause he's not even here yet_, Stephanie thought to herself, before sending that text message back to Amy and then placing her phone back in her purse; afterwords absentmindedly making sure she hadn't missed anyone walking in the door while checking her messages.

_Doesn't look like anyone remotely matching Keith's description is here._

The last time she had talked to the older male, he had told her that he was exactly six feet tall with short blond hair and baby blue eyes.  
_  
The only people here are middle aged italian men with dark hair and dark brown eyes...but what did I expect when suggesting we meet at an Italian restaurant?_

With that thought in mind, Stephanie let out a small sigh while telling herself that she was going to give the missing in action man another fifteen minutes before asking the waiter to bring her out the drink menu.

_Hey! At least if he doesn't show up, me and Amy can always have another girls night out whenever she gets here._

* * *

Twenty minutes later

"That'll be 15.30, sir."

Without even bothering to count out the exact change, Chris placed a twenty dollar bill in the cab driver's hand and then after quickly telling him_ thanks for the lift_, he hurriedly made his way into the Italian bistro in front of him; hoping that he had made it there before his date for the evening had figured she'd been stood up and left for the night.

_That's the **last** time I take a cab anywhere in Connecticut..they are __**the**__ slowest drivers in the world._

Knowing that he'd be taking that comment back later on when he had to hail _another_ cab to take him back to his hotel room later on that evening caused Chris to let out a small sigh before scanning the restaurant in front of him; trying to spot someone who matched the description that Marie had given him of herself the previous night before.

_She said she's 5'9, with long brown hair and dark brown eyes...hell, that's every girl in here-and their all here with someone else._

"Damn, I must have just missed her.."

"Jericho?"

Turning around at the sound of the familiar voice, Chris was surprised to see Stephanie McMahon standing in front of him, coming out of the ladies restroom. "Stephanie? What are you doing here?"

After taking a second, he assumed, to get over the surprise at seeing him there as well, Stephanie commented that she was supposed to be meeting Amy for dinner, but the younger woman was running late, "You?"

While inwardly thanking his parents for giving him the gift of being able to think quickly on his feet, Chris threw out: "I was supposed to be meeting an old friend of mine here for dinner tonight, but I guess she took my tardiness as a bad sign and left-that'll teach me never to take public transportation from here on out, you think?"

Taking his little white lie as the truth, Stephanie let out a small laugh while gesturing towards one of the empty tables in front of them. "I think Amy is having that same problem right about now 'cause she's running a little late, as well. Would you care to join us for the night?"

Even though he didn't want to be the third wheel in their obvious girls night out, not wanting to pass up the opportunity to spend some one on one alone time with Stephanie right now caused Chris to nonchalantly shrug his shoulders while jokingly replying back: "Why the hell not!"

After smiling at this response, Stephanie led Chris towards a table that was located near the back of the restaurant, and then after getting the eye of the waiter who had been standing by the hostess booth, she outwardly told the latter male: "We're still waiting on one more party to join us, but I think we're ready to order our drinks now."

Figuring that Stephanie was the kind of girl who usually ordered either white wine or maybe a glass of champagne every now and then caused Chris to be somewhat surprised when the next words out of the woman's mouth were:

"I'll have a gin and tonic with a double shot of 151 on the side."

_A double shot of **what**...?_

As if reading his thoughts, Stephanie let an amused grin spread across her face while replying: "Hey, don't look at me like that...remember, I **am** a McMahon. My dad taught Shane and I a _long _time ago that if we wanted to do business with the big boys, then we had to learn how to drink like the big boys. None of that weak girly crap for me."

_Now I see why her and Amy get along so well, _Chris thought to himself, before telling the waiter that he'd have the same thing Stephanie was having.

_This should make for one interesting night._

* * *

Okay, so what are you guys thinking so far? =)


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

An hour later

"Well, I hate to break it to you, Princess, but I think you've been stood up tonight."

Without even bothering to conceal her look of shock at the comment, Stephanie opened her mouth to ask Chris how he knew that. But before she could get the words pass her tongue, the older man continued with: "Wasn't Amy supposed to be here almost an hour ago?"

_Shit! That's right..she was._

Having almost forgotten that the younger woman was supposed to be meeting them at the restaurant right now caused Stephanie to state that fact out-loud; afterwords commenting that she hoped her friend was okay before pulling out her cell-phone to check and see if she had any missed calls.

"She texted me a half-n-hour ago saying that she went to the wrong restaurant and was wondering if I was okay...I wonder why she didn't just call first."

After taking a small sip from his third glass of gin and tonic, Chris shrugged his shoulders in nonchalance before replying: "She probably didn't want to face the wrath of one very pissed off Stephanie McMahon. I would have sent a text too if I was late for a meeting with you."

While texting Amy back saying that she was fine and didn't need for the red head to come after all-seeing as how Keith never showed up-Stephanie asked if Chris really thought she was all that bad.

"Mm..." Chris began, pretending to think about it for a second, before slightly chuckling and shaking his head in amusement. "Don't get me wrong...on screen you can be a real **bitch** sometimes. But off-camera...? I think you'd have to be **really **pissed off at someone to let them have it. You're a real big softy under all that makeup, Princess. I can tell."

Not wanting to admit that what Chris was saying was somewhat true, caused Stephanie to wait until she had put her phone back in her purse before raising an eyebrow in amusement; matching her friend's smile with one of her own. "Okay, Mr-know-it-all, since you've got me all figured out. Why don't you start telling me about yourself...? Is Mr. Irvine anything like his on screen personality Chris Jericho? Or is he really just a sweetheart under all that hair...**oh**, that's right. You don't have any hair now, do you...? My bad."

Even though he was trying with all his might not to laugh at that comment, Chris couldn't help but let a small chuckle slip out of the corner of his mouth.

_Brains, beauty __**and**__ a sense of humor...I still don't know how Paul could have let this one slip away from him. _

With that being his last thought on the subject, Chris turned his attention back to the question Stephanie had just asked him. "Somewhat...I'm not as cocky or arrogant as I pretend to be on TV. But there **is** _one_ thing both me and _Jericho _have in common."

After waiting a second to see if Chris would continue on with this statement, but to no avail, Stephanie replied: "Okay..I'll bite...and what, pray-tell, is that?"

Knowing that he had-had his fair share of alcohol tonight-which for him was known to be a truth serum-caused Chris to pause for a second wondering if he should just stop while he was ahead. But after another couple seconds of studying Stephanie's curious gaze, he found himself answering the younger woman's question out-loud: "When we really want something, we don't stop our pursuit until we get it."

_There! I said it...no taking it back now._

While not removing his gaze from Stephanie's, Chris finished off the remaining contents that was left in his cup. Afterwords, he waited for the next question that he knew was going to be asked.

"And **what** exactly is it that you want right now...? And please don't say another shot at the Intercontinental Championship belt cause I have someone else lined up for that one right now."

After slightly chuckling at this comment, Chris blurted out the first thing that came to mind when thinking about what he really wanted right now:

"You."

* * *

The next morning

_The beautiful people, the beautiful people...it's all relative to the size of your steeple...the beautiful people, the beautiful people..._

_Not this shit again...! I** swear**__ I'm going to kill this kid, _Chris thought to himself; while trying to block out the high pitched music that had woken him up out of his sleep._  
_  
Unfortunately though as the music continued to play, the same verse over and over again, he realized it wasn't Jeff playing his Marilyn Manson CD that was stirring him from his slumber, but his own ringing cell-phone.

"For the love of **God**, will someone _please_ shut that _damn _thing off right now!"

"That's what I'm trying to do," Chris mumbled to himself, still half asleep. But just as his hand reached over to grab his still ringing cell-phone off his hotel room's night stand, two things entered his mind at the moment.

The first one being that he wasn't_ in _his hotel room right now and the second thing being that he wasn't alone either right now.

_What the..?_

Forgetting what he was just about to do, Chris quickly turned around and almost swallowed his tongue at seeing who was lying next to him at the moment...completely naked.

"Stephanie..?"

* * *

What do you think?


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve: The morning after**

Still half asleep, Stephanie opened her eyes and mouth at the same time to ask the person next to her why they still hadn't turned off the annoying ring-tone. But then after meeting Chris's surprised eyes and noticing for the first time that not only was she completely naked right now, but so was he, realization of the situation fully hit her causing three words to quickly fly out of her mouth:

"**Oh** my **God**!"

_Well, that's something you never want to hear someone say when waking up in bed next to you, _Chris thought to himself, while quickly throwing a pillow over his genitals as Stephanie stood up, bringing the sheet that was covering them, along with her.

"Tell me we did **not **just do what I think we did last night."

_I digress..now **that's** something you never want to hear someone say when waking up in bed next to you.._Chris sarcastically thought to himself, before waiting until Stephanie had turned her gaze away from him before quickly throwing on his boxers that were absentmindedly thrown over the lamp shade beside him.

_Were we **really** that drunk last night?_

"Okay, maybe it's not as bad as it looks right now..maybe we just came back here last night and fell asleep...with all our clothes off."

Any other day, Chris might have laughed at that comment. But due to the serious expression that was written on Stephanie's face right now and the drumming sound that was starting to play in his head at the moment, he decided to go another route and finally answer his still ringing cell-phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Romeo, where _are _you...? It's going on ten o'clock and the guys are waiting for you so we can head to the airport-our flight leaves in two hours."

_Shit!_

Not realizing that it was **that **late caused Chris to quickly begin throwing his clothes on; telling Trish that he'd meet them at the airport in an hour. "I had to run an errand early this morning but I'll be there in a little bit okay?"

After taking his white lie as the truth, Trish responded back with an _okay _before telling Chris that she'd see him in a few and hanging up her end of the phone call.

"Who was that?"

Having almost forgot where he was at the moment caused Chris to stop buttoning his shirt and look at the woman in front of him who had asked that question.

_Damn. Even with smeared make-up and sleepies in her eyes, she's still the the most beautiful woman I've ever seen-especially when wearing nothing but a sheet right now._

Knowing that type of thinking was probably what got them into the situation they were in right now caused Chris to mentally shake that thought out of his head, while replying: "That was Trish...I was supposed to meet up with her, Adam and Christian an hour ago to head to the airport since we're headed to Canada for that award ceremony tonight, but I'm obviously running behind schedule and still haven't re-packed yet."

Even though she knew if anyone saw them together right now, there was no telling what rumors would be floating around about them come Monday morning, Stephanie couldn't help but, after a second, reply: "You're never going to make it to the airport on time if you call a cab, so if you wait for me to throw some clothes on, I can take you pass your hotel and drop you off at the airport afterwords."

_Really?_

Although he figured Stephanie was offering him the lift so she could get rid of him a lot faster, the fact that public transportation definitely wasn't a good option to take right now if he wanted to get to the airport on time, caused Chris to let a look of gratefulness wash across his face while replying:

"Thanks. I'd really appreciate it."

* * *

"Well, well, well, look who finally showed up-almost **two **hours later."

Looking up from the soft pretzel she was biting into, Trish had to hold back a slight grin as she noticed an out of breath Chris headed towards them with a look of relief on his face. _I cannot **wait **to hear the story behind this one._

"Hey, give the man a break, dude..it's not like _you_'_re_ Mr. Punctual all the time..." Christian commented, before adverting his attention to the person who had just joined them in the airport terminal, "Glad you could make it-"

"Let me guess, traffic was a bitch?" Adam interrupted, causing Chris to first frown at the comment, before slightly laughing as Trish replied: "Don't mind Grumpy over here. He's just mad 'cause security wouldn't let him bring his bottle of hair spray on the plane."

"They told him he'd either have to chuck it, or for an additional fee, they'd send it to him in the mail...and you already know how El-cheapo over here is."

Knowing from past experiences** just **how cheap Adam could be caused Chris to laugh even harder than before; glad that the reason behind Adam's anger wasn't really his tardiness.

_He's more of a diva than Trish is when it comes to his hair...I just hope Jeff never gets his hands on a bottle of **his**shampoo, cause blood will definitely be shed then._

"Attention passengers boarding Flight 212 to Ontario, we will now begin boarding all first class passengers."

"That's us," Trish absentmindedly commented, while picking her carry-on bag up off the floor, and following the three men onto the aircraft; noticeably relieved after once stepping onto the plane, she realized that her and Chris's assigned seats were right next to one another, three rows away from Christian and Adam's eavesdropping range.

_Now I can grill him about last night without having to worry about anyone accidentally overhearing us._

With that thought in mind, Trish waited until almost everyone had taken their seat and the captain had announced that they were preparing for take off, before turning towards the man seated next to her and asking him the one question that she was dying to know right now: "_So_, how'd last night go?"

As if knowing she was going to ask him that question as soon as they got a minute alone, Chris rolled his eyes at Trish's obvious eagerness, before reluctantly replying: "It didn't...the cab I took to the restaurant got stuck behind an accident so it was almost an hour after we were supposed to meet up when I got there. She was already gone by then so I ended up just grabbing a beer at the bar and then heading back to my hotel room for the night. So, sorry, but there's no story to tell here."

_And why do I find that so hard to believe?_

Knowing that **that **last part of Chris's story was a lie, as well as him telling her that he was out running errands earlier that morning, since she, Matt and Jeff had pretty much been camped outside of Chris's hotel room the night before waiting for the older man to come strolling in, to no avail, caused Trish to raise an eyebrow in surprise at the lie; inwardly wondering to herself what the older man was keeping from her.

And how long was it going to take before her and the Hardy boyz found out.  
_  
_

* * *

Two hours later

"Knock-knock..can I come in?"

Looking up from the paper-work she had been struggling to focus on for the last hour, Stephanie had to will herself not to let out an audible groan as she noticed Amy standing in front of the door to her office; wearing a slight look of amusement on her face.

_Just the person I've been trying to avoid all afternoon_.._.I was wondering when she'd come find me._

"Should've known I'd find you in here...I've been looking everywhere for you...how'd last night go?"

If Stephanie hadn't expected those words to be the first ones out of Amy's mouth when she ran into the red head, the older woman's face might've turned bright red at the question. But knowing that she hadn't spoken to the younger woman since telling her that she didn't have to show up to the restaurant the previous night since Keith hadn't either caused Stephanie to be ready with a slight lie at hand. "It didn't...after I texted you back telling you not to even bother to come, since Keith_ apparently _had better things to do with his time, I finished my glass of white wine, went back home and spent the night watching old Golden Girls re-runs on lifetime...becoming somewhat of a habit these days for me."

Knowing from her many nights of taking shots of rum and coke with the brunette, that the older woman's choice of beverage was not white wine and that Lifetime was showing nothing but Strong Medicine re-runs last night caused Amy to raise an eyebrow in surprise at the white lie that passed through Stephanie's mouth, but nonetheless she chose not to comment on it.  
_  
For her to lie to me like that, 1 of 2 things had to have happened to her last night..either she bumped her head and forgot that I can **always **tell when she was lying, **or** something **huge** happened that she doesn't want any one to find out about...now just to find out what that **something **is._


End file.
